This week, I found myself able to drill the opponent down causing him to eventually fall vertically to the ground. Read more
Locations
Class information of Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method. More details at chinese site
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Dear Tai Chi – enthusiasts and those interested!
Master Chen Zhonghua is coming for the third time to Vienna to show and share his skill in Tai Chi. The workshop is made for those without any knowledge about the art as well as advanced students of Tai Chi and will grant deep insights in the art. Also practitioners of other martial arts are welcome to participate at this workshop.
The workshop will be held in english, translation into german will be provided when needed.
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Presenter: Kelvin Ho Length: 28 min. In: English Year: 2018 Difficulty:1/5 At:Toronto
The following are highlights of my workshop notes workshop March 2 to 5th. I have tried to organize them into categories so I could better relate them. I did not capture everything
Workshop notes:
All Questions Should be asked in order to bring clarity: Hear It , See it, Feel It – the 3 questions you want answered
Principle – Yin and Yang separation life – I want to be good
Concept – all moves are indirect education
Action – convert into action use
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We are here because we’re humans, not animals.
Everything is like loose sand. Among the sand, some things might have a spark. There’s nothing wrong with sand, and nothing wrong with other ways of moving, such as other forms of martial arts or football. It just depends on what you want. Master Chen is looking for the sparks in the sand.
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My attempt to recount what Master Chen said the morning of 3/2/2019 at the Toronto workshop
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#Foundation instructions
3 count positive circle
-maintain equal size in all 3 counts
-initially how you feel and shape doesn’t matter
-count 1 & 3 is easy, 2nd is difficult
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Day 0
Fetch Water
- Put my front knee against the bench.
- My front knee should be on top of my front heel.
- Make my fetch water action much, much, much bigger. Only when there is size, it becomes useful. My action is way too small, Master Chen told me the same at the last workshop as well. I have not changed yet.
- Once I am done with stretching the top, while not moving the front kua, knee, foot, move the rear foot to increase size.
- Whatever I do, the front knee is not moving.
- Train the whole yilu with one specific part not moving.
Kelvin Ho was invited to perform at Yee Hong Chinese New Year Celebration on Feb. 12, 2019.
At the Phoenix workshop Master Chen had someone place a pole from his hand to the arch of his back foot. In w/ elbow his and and forearm slid along the pole. He has a shorter pole placed by his front kua a slightly upward angle. His elbow followed the 2nd pole while the hand stayed on the 1st pole. He then said, it’s actually “out w/ foot” as the hand only guides the direction.
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- Reference points: counting is to establish a standard for us to be able to teach and communicate
- Direction: must not lose the aim. Don’t lose the 45 degree facing when practicing the foundational exercises
- Positive circle 3 count: 1. in elbow; back shoulder to forward foot is the axis. 2. rotate waist don’t involve spine and don’t lose previous axis. 3. push foot, aim at hand. There is a split in the middle. Again don’t lose previous two axes
In Kelvin Ho’s article “Opponents stop moving when I move” written Dec 24 2018; I was one of the opponent’s who was not moving when he came in. I agree with his statement ‘there was no feedback/trigger’. I felt like a deer in the headlights when he came in. The definition says:
“Someone caught in a state of paralyzing surprise, fear, or bewilderment. Likened to the tendency of deer to freeze in place in front of an oncoming vehicle”.
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Sydney Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy 澳洲悉尼陈中华太极馆Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method 陈氏太极拳实用拳法 |
| Classes: | Sunday 8:00am to 9:30am – Brian Chung No classes on all public holidays or long weekends |
| Curriculum: | Chen Stye Taijiquan Practical Method Foundations, Yilu (First Routine), Theory, Push Hands |
| Location Details: | Evolution Performance Centre Level 1, 11-15 Falcon Street, Crows Nest NSW 2065
Parking: Alexander Street Carpark (Free 2 hours Sunday) Nicholson Street Carpark (Free all day Sunday) |
| Instructors: | Brian Chung |
| Fee: | $300 per term.
Payment link: https://square.link/u/By8pgbTC Term 1: 14 Jan to 24 Mar Term 2: 7 Apr to 7 Jul Term 3: 14 Jul to 29 Sep Term 4: 13 Oct to 15 Dec Privates are also available. |
| Contact: | For more information and registration, please contact: Brian Chung practicalmethodau@gmail.com +61 423 035 857 |
| Australia Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/practicalmethodaustralia/ Sydney Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/practicalmethodsydney |
Back in 2011, I wrote about how my taiji journey got started: http://practicalmethod.com/2011/10/how-did-my-taiji-journey-get-started/. 7 more years passed by quickly on this journey, and it is now 2018. Much of the time was spent learning how to learn. In this article, rather than talking about taiji principles or concepts, let me share Master Chen Zhonghua’s teachings on learning.
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About learning
1. Give it enough time. The secret is time.
2. Give yourself enough time to find the shortcuts.
3. Progress comes from holding yourself. Don’t overshoot yourself. Don’t use power.
4. Train the rail – first, you will not get the line. 3-months later, the trajectory is imprinted on the body [with practice]. You’ll see the line.
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During practice on Dec. 23, 2018, we were practicing how to move in after making contact with the opponent. The particular exercise involved the two right forearms touching at one point. One person attempted his best to prevent the opponent from coming in, including moving his arm around. Everyone did this exercise against the others one by one. One student observed that when I showed how to move in, the opponent always appeared to have stopped his arm movement as soon as I started to move in. Others would struggle to fight at the upper body or the arm with the opponent. I found that being an interesting observation. Another student commented that he didn’t react or do any subsequent action when I moved in because there was no feedback/trigger to tell him to do anything, and he would just “watch” me coming in. I further demonstrated what they tended to do, which was to push his hand/arm forwarded as they moved the body forward, in which case, the opponent would respond immediately and stop me from coming in possibly using different methods. There should be no push at any time. Read more
About learning
1. “The teacher teaches the principle. You go home and practice.”
2. Follow the principle. Don’t deviate.
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2018.12.16 Sydney Workshop Day Two Notes – Brian Chung Read more
2018.12.15 Sydney Workshop Day One Notes – Brian Chung Read more
Recently, I had a dream where I used my thigh to push down the opponent at his thigh. Shifu came over and mentioned something that I didn’t quite understand. I then practiced that move with another student named Benz, and I got that move in the dream. When I woke up, I realized that I learned something.
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Attendees: Alex, OngWM, Flo, Chandra, Jojo
1. Twisting Towel train the Elbow to be in the Middle
2. Six Sealing 4 Closing train the Shoulder to
be in the Middle
3. Fetch Water train the Kua to be in the Middle
Toronto Oct 13, 2018
Master Chen has stated before fajin is everything is in the correct place, add speed. How do we add speed?
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Toronto, Oct 23, 2018
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The ability to lock the opponent is an important one we need to continuously to improve on in Practical Method. In order to send the opponent to the floor in what seemingly an effortless manner (in reality, it is not really effortless), we always need to lock the opponent first. However, more often than not, especially at the beginning of our learning, we use a lot of brute force to keep the opponent in certain position. However, locking the opponent simply means disallowing him or her to move. As long as the opponent is not moving, the objective is achieved. Read more
| Instructors: | Master Chen Zhonghua, Instructor Chen Xu, Instructor Ling Zili |
| Date: | Dec 15-16, 2018 |
| Time: | 9:00am to 5:30pm |
| Location: | DJKJ Kung Fu Academy 34 Rosebery Avenue, Rosebery NSW 2018 |
| Topics: | Theory, Foundations, form (yilu), applications and push hands |
| Fee: | $380 for 2 days, $220 for 1 day. |
| Suggested preparation for first-timers, get yourself familiar with the following: | |
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| For more information and registration, please contact: Brian Chung practicalmethodau@gmail.com +61 423 035 857 |
For the second consecutive year the North American Practical Method Training Camp was held at Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. This seventy acre retreat, located in a mainly residential section of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, provided a relaxed and private location for training. While the center is an outreach ministry of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration it is an informal center with an emphasis on ecology and the many varieties of spirituality. It is easy to mistake the sisters for the volunteers working in the garden or helping maintain the grounds. One of the sisters, who is 80 years old and teaches Tai Chi Chih, a form of Qigong, can often be seen driving a tractor on the grounds. She took a break from her work to watch a group of us practice the First 13. Another sister told me she was happy to see our large, primarily, but not entirely, male group stay at their center, because we provided a different type of energy than is usually found there. My point in mentioning this is to suggest that the folks at Prairiewoods appeared to have enjoyed us being there
The body must separate into two. For example in the opening move, part of the body faces forward and part of it rotates 45 degrees
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I’m extremely pleased at what I’ve taken away from the camp. I have a lot to work on between now and the next Master Chen Zhonghua workshop, for instance:
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Pretend to fight to find the end points. Once locked, move-in the middle point.
(Alignment) Rear fingers look for the front elbow. The rear kua looks for the rear elbow.
What’s the best part of my day?
Being with my little girl and her classmates at an all day excursion to Whiteman Park. Kangaroos, native australian birds, bush land, native trees and plants, wild flowers, bugs, big orange ants that bite, native bees (I was stung on my neck), spiders (a couple of kids were bitten), snakes (lucky nobody met one in person)…….the list goes on and on.
What’s the worst part of my day?
Being powerless to her help when she was bitten and scratched by bugs and then when her eyes were swollen and itchy from the pollen on the air (it’s spring).
What have I learnt about myself?
That I love detail.
In my practice, detail is very important. I might even go as far as saying critical.
Imagine walking through a forest without a map or having any idea where you want to go. Lost right?
Well practicing my Yilu is exactly the same. Without the detail of principles, theories and methods I can pretty much do anything.
It’s just like as if I was to drive off in my car without a map or destination in mind. Just meandering around, burning fuel.
Detail such as:
Don’t move
In with elbow no hand, out with hand no elbow
Rotate
Fix the point
Keep the centre
Yin Yang separation (splitting)
Eat bitter
and many many more.
My current personal challenge is to test the theory of 10,000.
My master, Chen Zhonghua said to me that my body will change after 10,000 Yilus. Apart from stipulating 20 Yilus daily, he didn’t recommend whether I would benefit from this theory if I was to spread out my practice over 10 years or whether it had to be done consecutively.
So I made it mean consecutively.
It takes me approximately 1 hour to complete 10 Yilus.
I’m in week 37, so after completing this week I’ll have 6300 Yilus to complete.
So what’s your journey?
Can you apply the rule of 10,000 to your craft or discipline?
Reach out and let me know.
On target, 20 Yilus today.
Thanks for sharing.
Talk to me on: gawain.siu@gingmo.com.au
Checkout other blog posts on my Medium: https://medium.com/@gawainsiu
